The Guardian would continue to watch the pair its movements unheard as it moved through the upper branches like a ghost. It honestly wanted to poke at the human that was so cat like, but at the same time was highly amused by this game of cat and mouse...or should we say cat and fox? It watched as the fox tried to catch the other, but like all cats the man was quite agile and able to get away. Cu cu cu. What would the fox do now? Entertained it would remained watching for now.

Meanwhile back on the branch, Rika did indeed try to grab Sharaku; however, the man proved to be quite slippery as he gave his amused smirks and slipped away, leaving the demon watching him as he hopped away. Remaining crouched down on the branch, Rika would watch the other for a moment thinking. He could’ve pursued, but instead found himself smirking as he got to his feet and went upward instead. Depending on how the observant the other was, he could’ve caught Rika moving upward, but once he was in the swaying tree leaves, the demon would quietly crouch down so he could see the other. At his height, unless the other decided to actually come up there he shouldn’t be able to see him or if he did it would be just a splash of black that quickly vanished a second later and why was that? Well it was simple, Rika had changed the way his body worked as he shifted his form slightly to mimic the tree spirits who had a natural ability to blend in with their surroundings like a camelion. Staying in the trees above, he would begin to move carefully and quietly as he kept his eye on his prey below. Provided he didn’t screw up or the guy wasn’t quick at figuring out his trick, he should be able to get him.

Yes...all he needed to do was get close enough to pounce without him noticing. He already figured that the moment the guy noticed that he was not pursuing that it would put him on high alert. Even so he wanted to try and get him anyway. So like a ghost he would follow waiting for the other to stop to make his move.

Well, as good as his sight could be when he was focusing on tracking something, it couldn't always pan out perfectly. Thus no, he did not exactly see what the demon did, as he was at first focused on landing properly without breaking a branch underneath himself and all that. Maybe if he had switched his focus faster, he could have noticed, but alas, that was not the case this time around. However, did he really need to see the guy to deal with this? After all, eyesight was not the only way, and besides, the fact that he could not spot the demon was a warning sign on its own, even though he could not tell what exactly would follow and when. Not that he saw that as a huge deal.

While it was not something he was the most skilled in, he wasn't that bad at tracking. Even back in that odd world, he did sense demons being around after all. And while random demons he could not pinpoint exactly, or tell much about at distance outside of being aware of their relative presence if he caught onto it, Rika was a different case. Having been close by the guy for a decent while made it much easier to be able to sense the guy when he really needed to, so he did not need to rely only on what he saw in this case. Therefore, for as long as the demon could only mask his appearance, it wouldn't work for long. Not unless he could alter the presence he gave off, but was that even possible without literally becoming someone else?

All the food for thought aside, he would simply opt to not move anywhere for now, just waiting as he shifted slightly to a position that would let him move/act decently fast if he needed to. In fact, he would even close his eyes, so he could focus better on other things. Bonus points if the demon got fooled into thinking that he was going to be an easy target. Then again, he couldn't underestimate the guy either so he would just have to wait and see what happened, wouldn't he?

His prey did indeed seem to not take notice of him, but as the demon suspected the moment he couldn’t see him was the moment red flags went up. When the guy stopped moving and even closed his eyes, Rika would pause in his pursuit remaining quiet and still as he kept his distance. He wasn’t exactly sure what sort of abilities the other had, but he could make a guess that the man’s behavior wasn’t due to simply letting his guard down or deciding now was a good time for random meditation. No...the guy was probably concentrating using his other senses and perhaps even sensing to find him.

Oho? That was right? It was true he did not encounter it himself, but the blonde had didn’t he. Right when they entered the place, the man had said he could sense demons, but not pinpoint them. So what did that mean for Rika whose presence he was used to? Could he pin-point him exactly due to familiarity? It was a curious thought that brought a smirk to the demon’s face as an idea came to him.

Well if he could sense him let’s see how well he could do it. Allowing himself to shift fully into a wood spirit he would remain camouflaged as his the rest of his body became more plant like to blend in better. Due to not being the actual thing or being able to mimic things perfectly, his “scent” was still around just slightly lower than before; however, this mattered not as there was a different reason he had done what he did. Sure he couldn't mimic perfectly, but he could still use the creature’s natural abilities to his advantage So wagging his tail that had now become thin and stick like a rattling sound would sound off in the area coming from nowhere and everywhere at once. The sound masked sound, but also released waves that made it difficult to read energies in the area. If the other really could sense things, he would find himself having a bit of trouble perhaps due to the mixed signals all around.

If this worked, then Rika would be able to get his prey, but even as he moved closer to close in on his prey, he did not underestimate him. After all who knew how well the other could concentrate and pick his scent in particular out from the rest.

As the game continued, the Guardian would watch as it’s bird like face pulled back into a fangy grin. How amusing that the fox would play in such a way with a cat. Were they perhaps friends? Or were they really after each other for some odd reason? More curious than ever the Guardian would move to a lower branch staying hidden still, but watching even more.

Yes, the situation was indeed an annoying one. While he could sense the other pretty well under normal circumstances, trying to track him through extreme distractions would require way too much concentration to pull off, and even then, it would likely not be completely accurate. He wasn’t a master in that honestly, and at this point, he really did best when tracking a target who wasn’t aware of him to the extent that they could be attempting to set him off balance as sharply as that. On the other hand, despite the shortcomings in some of his abilities, there was one thing he could always rely on. Simply coming up with a different strategy when foiled, and if nothing else, he did not lack resourcefulness when it came to using his power to the best of his current abilities. His original plan had indeed been to attempt luring the guy close and most likely just getting away at the last moment or such, but if he couldn’t rely on making it, then he would simply shift to a different kind of play.

Hopefully, the demon wouldn’t get too ruffled by the tricks that were about to be used against him. While foxes were the ones typically known to be tricksters, that sure didn’t mean he would fall behind simply because he was not of the same kind. What he was about to do was actually rather simple at base anyway. Yes, he could indeed not figure out Rika’s exact location once all the noise started setting in, but by that point he at least knew the guy’s hiding spot from before the racket started. Plus, basic logic would indicate that the demon’s aim would be to get really close to him unnoticed otherwise he wouldn’t put all that effort into hiding his whereabouts. Therefore, he still knew that the guy would be trying to come towards him at the end of it all, even if he couldn’t know which specific direction from exactly. What he could do though, was narrow it down to the few places the guy could be at without having revealed himself by moving around…which would likely not be many. Because really, if the demon tried to jump between trees himself, that would give his position away too early or at least alert him somehow, thus there was no way that the guy was suddenly going to be at a location that was far off from his starting spot unless he knew how to literally make himself invisible even when not hidden within a bunch of leaves.

Deductions aside however, he probably didn’t even need them for real. Not for what he was about to do. The moment he realized his way of tracking was useless, he would open his eyes back up, his gaze slightly narrowed. Well, sometimes the best kind of defense is offense, right? He sure wasn’t going to wait for the guy to come to him that easily, and he would play the game his way. He would smirk thinly after a short while as he raised one of his hands slightly, snapping his fingers. Following that, blue flames would sprout around him and proceed to swiftly spread over an area about 5-6 feet around him, like a sudden wave of fire everywhere. Of course, that would normally be a dangerous move, but in this particular case, he had a good enough grasp on what he could do, and thus the flames would in fact not burn anything they touched (unless it was another magical sort of attack that it could clash with). No, that was simply meant to be a trick in an attempt to make the demon panic and do something to get away from the sudden harm coming his way and thus give himself away. After all, any kind of being would probably react on instinct if something was aimed their way out of the blue without them knowing it was just a ruse. It would be really surprising if the demon managed to conclude that in the moment somehow, and the fact that he had a good poker face, making it seem like he was serious with what he was doing would not help at all anyway. With that said and done, he would keep on alert still, as he couldn’t know what exactly would this end up triggering. While the guy wouldn’t be harmed at all even if the fire did go all over him, one cannot know what reaction that would inspire after all.

Well when one thing worked or at least seemed to work, there was always something that came around to snatch away Rika’s triumph. While he did indeed succeed in destroying whatever concentration the other had to pinpoint him and created a rather nice bubble of sound for him to move within, the demon didn’t expect for what did happen to happen. Yes, he expected the man to do something alright, but suddenly fling out fire? No. That was the last thing he expected.

As the demon was moving along the trees and had just positioned himself just right to make a leap, the guy decided to do his fire attack which caused various things to run through the demon. The first was natural fear/panic. That was fire and while he did not burn easily normally wood spirits did, meaning this form would be in a bit of a pickle if caught up in that which it probably would considering proximity and the suddenness of it. Quickly following that was instinct, he couldn’t jump back there was not an easy to reach branch behind him. Trying to run back to the trunk would fail and dropping below was just as bad as trying as trying to jump back. Those branches would snap under him and while it was true he could shapeshift rather quickly, the demon wasn’t looking forward to being smacked by a ton of branches...and also being burnt on top of that since this strange attack seemed to go everywhere. No matter which way he turned he was going to get hit, so instead of trying to flee from it he would decide to take it head on.

The decision happened in a flash, the demon’s body moving and shifting as he pushed himself off the branch and towards the quickly approaching wave of fire. Instinctively, he would curl a bit in the air as his arms and hands came up to defend his face from what he thought would be scorching flames. His body was already mostly his own again so the flames would burn thicker flesh rather than easily flammable wood when the fire hit and...and did nothing?

The fox was a bit confused about this as he shifted his weight as he uncurled and collided with a light thump into trunk of the tree the other was on. From there, he’d slid down a bit, but stop as his claws sunk into the tree and his boots found lodging on the tree. As he stopped the demon would hold perfectly still for a moment.

He didn’t seem to be hurt, the contact with the tree a planned thing more so than anything; however, it seemed that he was a bit shaken up since for a moment he didn’t even look up as he kept his eyes closed and held onto the tree. He was back in his normal form, his tail flicking in an agitated fashion as he remained where he was. Perhaps the fire was too much for him? Or maybe it had made him mad? It was hard to say, even more so when red eyes did drift up to look at the other. The expression was determined and stubborn. Alright so the guy had gotten him, but that was alright. He would get him yet...or at least that is what he thought for like two seconds before his eyes caught movement above the other and in turn his eyes widened in both shock and fear.

Throwing away the rules of the game, the fox had to speak this time since it was kind of necessary.

“Above you!” That was only warning he would receive and it was not one shouted in jest or trick. It was a genuine warning, but for what one may ask. Well, remember the hidden Guardian that watched them? It too was startled by that fire attack too that had forced it to move. The creature wasn’t fond of fire fake or not and sought to get back at the one that had scared it so.

In response to what was done, the spirit did indeed fly down towards the man with its talons outstretched in an attempt to grab at his hair or rake his back for that one. It aimed to give him a fair warning alright, but could it actually do it? Well little kitty. Let’s see how fast and clever you really are.

Random Info.:

Rika: Hanging onto the tree trunk.Guardian: Coming from above at angle. It’s speed is fast and its presence up until now was hidden.

Well, that worked……sort of. It didn’t turn out to be exactly what he would have liked, but well, when are vague plans like that perfect anyway? If nothing else, his core objective did get accomplished, as the demon popped out of his hiding swiftly enough. Except for the unfortunate aftereffects that came right after. Honestly though, he couldn’t have known about that. Plus, he made extra sure to not actually harm anyone even though he did not see any random bystander in the first place, so he wouldn’t have expected someone getting mad at him out of the blue. And on second thought, it was their fault if they were purposefully hiding around during all this, not his. Can’t factor in something you don’t know about, and if someone was bold enough to be a secret peeping tom without knowing what exactly were they even spectating, was it his problem? He wouldn’t think so. He wasn’t responsible for someone when he wasn’t aware of them even existing, despite the fact that he would have most likely picked up on it if there had been some other demon/spirit around. Normally, at least.

Nevertheless, he did not quite get the time to ponder what was happening anyway. The sudden shout did kind of startle him, but perhaps that was a good thing, since he could definitely react on instinct too and if it wasn’t for that, he would have likely not been able to get away. He wouldn’t have had the time, were he to stop to look around first or anything like that. Luckily, due to the shock factor, he just didn’t, and opted to simply move away in response. Well ‘move’. More like he let gravity do the job for him, as he let himself tip to the side, toppling off the branch he had been on into a half-graceful side-flip and landing on the ground in a crouch. He would blink a few times to gather himself before turning his gaze upwards to actually check on wtf was happening up there.

As for the bird dude? Well, if it was indeed going at a decent speed, the likelihood was that it would get its talons lodged in the branch or the tree trunk, depending on the angle of its descent. Unless it managed to halt early enough that is, but that would remain to be seen. Meanwhile….